Authentically Creative? Identifying and Reconciling the Tension Between Authenticity and Creativity

Organizations perceived as authentic by relevant audiences reap many benefits, including more favorable brand appraisal and larger sales, thus making the pursuit of authenticity potentially lucrative. In contrast to this widely held positive view of authenticity, we develop a theoretical perspective that points to a potential dark side. Because authenticity demands adherence to tradition, conformity to a category and/or the fidelity to a point of origin, the desire to maintain authenticity may stifle the pursuit of creative ideas which often involve breaking with the status quo. Using both experiments and archival data, we found converging evidence that authenticity dampens creativity. Importantly, we also identified one context in which this effect could be reversed. When being creative is within the scope of what authenticity connotes, authenticity becomes a facilitator rather than an inhibitor of creativity. We discuss the implications of our results for organizations that desire to be both authentic and creative.